


Alicante Hall

by MalecCrazedAuthor



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 10:16:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12909837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalecCrazedAuthor/pseuds/MalecCrazedAuthor
Summary: Alec's freshman year at Idris University takes an unexpected turn when his roommate turns out to be unlike anything he ever expected.





	Alicante Hall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NandaWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NandaWrites/gifts).



> Merry Malec Xmas!

“There must be some mistake,” Maryse Lightwood said, smiling her blandest smile. “I distinctly recall checking the box on the form to request a single room for Alec.”

“No, Mom, I changed that, remember?” Alec scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “Jace and I were going to room together.”

“Right now your friend Jace is probably having a very similar conversation with my would-be roomie,” Alec’s _unexpected_ roommate said. “Which is probably why he’s not answering your text messages.”

“It’s no big deal, Mom,” Izzy piped up, smiling brightly. “With the freshmen all moving in this weekend, it’ll probably take a week or two for Student Housing to deal with the mixup. So why not let Magnus stay here with Alec for now, Jace can stay...wherever he wound up...and they can switch when the problem is fixed?”

Maryse’s fixed smile never so much as twitched. “But Alicante Hall is the _academic_ dorm,” she said. “Surely, Marcus--”

“Magnus,” Alec muttered.

“-- _Magnus_ would be more comfortable among the art and music majors over in Edom Commons.”

Alec winced at his mother’s snobbery. Of course she would assume a guy wearing makeup with spiked, blue-streaked hair couldn’t possibly be what she’d consider ‘a serious student.’

Magnus gave them a smile as stiff and false as Maryse’s own. “ _Actually_ , I have a heavy course load this term. As much as I enjoyed Edom last year, I could use someplace quieter to study if I want to keep my shot at graduating _summa cum laude_.”

Alec clamped his lips together to keep from smirking. _Well played, Magnus_.

“Be that as it may, as I said before, I really think Alec should have a _single_ \--”

“Mom. No,” Alec said firmly. “I’m not going to spend my first year of college alone in my room like a hermit. I won’t neglect my studies, no matter who my roommate is, all right?”

“The boy’s right, Maryse,” Robert Lightwood said generously, clapping Alec on the shoulder in a way that made him want to wince again. “He’s not just here at Idris to study. There are a lot of important families whose children come here. He needs to be out there, making connections that will help him after he graduates. That’s probably even more important than his grades.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Maryse said, some of the tightness leaving her face. “Isn’t Senator Branwell’s eldest a junior here this year? She was lovely when they attended the symphony gala last winter…”

Thankfully, Izzy jumped in. “Hate to disappoint you, Mom, but I heard she’s marrying the heir to Monteverde Imports. Rumor is, their wedding present from his family is going to be their largest olive orchard in Spain.”

Magnus held up a hand. “As much as I’d love to gossip about where Lydia and John are going on their honeymoon, I’m still parked in the loading zone with a car full of computer gear. So, Alexander, are we okay with me crashing here until our little roomie mix-up has been handled?”

“Sure, Magnus, that sounds great.” Alec said quickly, before his mother could manufacture another argument against the idea. “Need help grabbing anything from your car?”

“I’ll manage, thanks. Though, if a feisty redhead happens to drop by looking for me, tell her I’ll call Housing first thing Monday and try to get this all worked out.” Magnus waved to them all and disappeared out into the hallway, where hundreds of other students were all shuttling their belongings from their cars to their rooms.

“‘Feisty redhead?’” Alec sighed. “Oh, no.”

Izzy smirked. “That settles it. Jace is lost to us forever.”

Maryse huffed. “Well, I intend to call the Dean of Student Affairs personally on Monday and--”

“ _I’ll_ call, Mom.” Alec met her eyes evenly. “Remember what we talked about? You need to back off. I’m an adult now. I can handle ironing out a housing snafu. Honestly, this isn’t a big deal. Even if it takes the whole first term, Magnus will probably end up being a less disruptive roommate than Jace anyway. You know how he gets.”

“Possibly. But I’d be careful if I were you, Alec.” His father’s brows drew down and he leaned in close. “As much as university is about making connections and building your network, you want to be careful to avoid the wrong _sort_ of connections. Do you understand?”

“Sure, Dad. I hear you loud and clear.” Alec forced his lips up into some semblance of a smile. It was no useless to ask what Robert found objectionable about Magnus. His skin color? His hair and makeup? The jewelry that glittered at his hands, neck, and ears? His slightly outrageous sense of fashion? The fact that “Bane” wasn’t a name well-known in politics or somewhere near the top of the Fortune 500?

He resisted the urge to sigh. If pressed, Maryse would cop to disliking any or all of the above, though she would consider it uncouth to put it so bluntly. Alec wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than his father’s attempts at maintaining a facade of liberalism, cloaking his bigotry with vague insinuations.

“Good man.” Robert clapped him on the back again. “Now, your mother and I need to get to the alumni luncheon. You and your sister will be fine bringing the rest of your things up from the car?”

“We’ll be great, Dad,” Izzy promised, kissing their father’s cheek. Then she dropped down into the chair at Alec’s desk and kicked her legs out as she crossed them. “Alec will haul the boxes and I’ll supervise.”

Robert smiled indulgently. “Management material from the day you were born. We’ll check in with you later.”

Alec murmured goodbye and accepted his mother’s peck on the cheek, then let his shoulders drop and his head fall back the moment the door closed behind them. “Oh, thank God. They’re finally gone.”

“Ready to begin college, big brother?” Izzy asked, smiling fondly.

“Let’s just say I am beyond ready for a little less parenting in my life.”

“Well, then this is a great opportunity. Not only will you be out from under Mom and Dad’s thumb, but you won’t have to worry about parenting Jace.”

Alec frowned and scoffed. “I don’t parent Jace.”

“You really do,” she said bluntly. “But with him rooming elsewhere, you can stand down and just be a college kid.”

“This isn’t about me,” Alec protested. “I agreed to this for Jace’s sake.”

The door opened and Magnus shouldered his way inside with an armful of boxes. “Is the coast clear?”

Alec ignored the way just the sight of Magnus drove the breath from his lungs. It felt like when he’d been kicked in the chest by Izzy’s horse when he was twelve, but without the trip to the emergency room. “Yeah, they’re gone.”

“Excellent.” Magnus beamed and set down his computer equipment, then extended his hand. “Let’s do this for real, then. I’m Magnus. You must be Alexander.”

Alec found himself smiling widely as his face heated up. He couldn’t even say why he was grinning, except that the sight of Magnus’s saucy wink made his cheeks _need_ to tug the corners up his mouth up in response

“Yeah. I’m, uh, Alec. Of course. Sorry about my parents. They can be, um. A little, er--challenging.”

“ _Pfft_. That was nothing. I didn’t even get a sneer from your mother. I’m sure I can do better.”

“Good luck. Mom’s far too well-bred to actually _sneer_. She’ll radiate icy disapproval until you literally freeze to death but her polite smile will never even flicker.” Izzy thrust out her hand. “I’m Alec’s sister, Isabelle. I’ve got enough credits to graduate early, so I’ll be starting here next term. We’ll see lots of each other then.”

Magnus made a theatrical bow and kissed the air a breath away from making contact with her knuckles. “And I’m sure we’ll be the best of besties when you finally crash-land on campus.”

“Oh, you’re good. I think this scheme of Jace and Clary’s is going to work out just fine for everyone.” She looked at Alec and grinned. “I’m gonna go call Simon and grab some more boxes from the car. You stay here and get to know your new roomie.”

Alec shook his head desperately, pleading with her with his eyes, until Magnus glanced up at him, forcing him to try to play it off by transitioning to a maniacal nod and a huge, fake smile. “Sure, Iz, that’ll be just...fine.”

Magnus pursed his lips as Izzy sauntered out of the room, then gave Alec a questioning look. “Am I reading this wrong? Clary told me you were on board with this plan.”

_On board_ might be a significant exaggeration. The truth was, Alec had hated the plan when Jace had first proposed it. Rooming with Jace had been the only part of college he was actually looking forward to. Then he’d found out that Clary had decided to attend Idris U, and that she and Jace were hatching a scheme to swap roommates.

Jace’s father was exactly the sort of _wrong connections_ Alec’s dad should be worried about, but wasn’t. Jace had been staying with Alec’s family for nearly ten years, since Morgenstern Capital--formerly a division of Fairchild-Morgenstern Investments--had been caught up in a predatory lending scandal that had bankrupted tens of thousands of families and precipitated a global recession. Jocelyn Fairchild had been his partner, but she had reported him once she discovered what was going on. If Valentine Morgenstern ever set foot on American soil again, Jocelyn would be the star witness at his trial.

Needless to say, she didn’t want her daughter anywhere near Valentine’s son. Hence the rooming scheme, which, if it worked, pretty much spelled doom for Alec’s fruitless crush on his best friend. A crush that was never going to go anywhere, anyway, but their friendship offered safe cover. And that yearning was at least familiar. The _absence_ of it was decidedly not, and Alec wasn’t sure what he was going to do without it.

Where would he hide now? Especially with Magnus looking...the way Magnus looked. Alec had barely glanced at the picture of Magnus when Jace had shown him on his phone, because he hadn’t thought it would matter.

Clearly he’d been mistaken. Because Magnus was breathtakingly, stupefyingly gorgeous.

_Dangerously_ gorgeous.

This. _This_ was what Alec had been afraid would happen if he finally let go of his infatuation with Jace. That all those feelings might refocus on another guy, one for whom it wouldn’t be so easy to pretend it was just friendship he felt.

Alec raked his fingers through his hair again as he realized Magnus was still staring, waiting patiently for an answer. “No, no, I’m on board. I’m just--this is all gonna blow up in our faces. Clary gets that even if Jace doesn’t, right?”

“What’s the worst that can happen if it does?” Magnus asked, turning to unpack boxes of what looked like brand new computer gear still in the manufacturer’s packaging. Aside from a sleek laptop, he also had a desktop rig that hadn’t been purchased from any retail chain. “In a few weeks or months, Clary’s mom’ll realize that Clary’s an adult and forbidding her to see Jace is pointless. She and Jace’ll get over the whole star-crossed-lovers riff and live happily ever after, or at least as close to it as a straight couple can manage when they decide they’re soulmates before they’re even in college.”

Alec gave him a dubious look. “And you don’t think there’s any chance we’ll be caught up in the fallout?”

“Even if Jocelyn finds out we aided and abetted, what’s she going to do, spank us? Not my kink.” Magnus eyed Alec up and down and smirked. “Though for you, I’d reconsider.”

Alec’s face flamed and he had a resist the urge to smile back again. “I’m serious. What about my parents?”

“I can be sweet and diplomatic when it suits me.” Magnus shrugged and muttered something that sounded like, “It never pays to antagonize the future in-laws.”

“Wait, what?” Alec blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” Magnus grinned and dropped him another wink before he began unwinding cables. He dropped down to his hands and knees under the desk to connected them, and Alec was not going to stare at his butt, he was _not_ going to stare at his butt, he was not…

...Okay, Alec was totally staring at his butt.

The sight of it managed to drive any other protests Alec was formulating right out of his head. None of them seemed like they’d get any more traction than the ones he’d already offered, anyway. Instead, he watched silently as Magnus finished putting together his computer and started it. Then a poster sticking out of one of the boxes on Magnus’s bed caught his eye.

“ _Shadows of the Downworld_? My little brother Max loves that game.”

“Does he now?” Magnus smiled in delight. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“Yeah. Izzy’s on-off boyfriend Simon wrote the story for it, and I think Clary did some of the graphic design. Simon gave Izzy a download code and she let Max have it, since she’s not a gamer. He plays it every minute Mom will let him, which isn’t much since she’s death on video games.” Alec took a step closer to the desk as Magnus settled in the chair and opened up what he could recognize as code, though it might as well have been gibberish for all the sense he could make of it. “What is this?”

“Work on the new _SoD_ expansion.” Magnus gave him a self-satisfied smile. “Simon wrote the story, Clary did the graphic design, and I was the code guy. Then we sold the distribution rights for an ungodly amount of money and that’s how a penniless foster kid like me ended up at this highly overpriced--and frankly overrated--institution.”

“Oh, God.” Alec covered his face with his hands and groaned. “My mother really is going to despise you.”

Magnus laughed and just the sound of it made something inside Alec feel warm. He let his hands fall away from his face, unable to help himself from smiling in response.

“Don’t worry, Alexander. She doesn’t have to know her youngest is hooked on a game I created.” Magnus tossed him a playful leer. “As far as she’s concerned, my corrupting influence won’t spread any further than her eldest.”

For about the tenth time since Magnus had showed up, Alec’s face burned. “Magnus, I don’t think-- I can’t-- I’m not really--”

Alec hung his head, falling miserably silent. The shuffle of Magnus rising from his chair made his heartbeat stutter, especially when his footsteps drew closer and the toes of his shoes appeared in Alec’s line of sight.

“Why are you here?” Magnus asked, his voice so close that Alec could practically feel his breath.

He lifted his gaze, blinking. “At Idris U?”

Magnus scoffed. “You’re legacy. No mystery there. I mean, why agree to room with me?”

“To--to help Jace, a-and Clary--”

“You could have done that and still gotten the single dorm room your mother’s convinced you need.”

Which was precisely why he _hadn’t_ gotten a single. Because bucking his mother and father’s expectations was what he needed to do. If he’d decided to begin six months earlier, he’d probably even be at a state university somewhere now, but he’d already been pushed through the chute into his parents’ _alma mater_ before he’d realized he needed to stop doing everything they told him to do.

If he didn’t start choosing his own course now, before he knew it he was going to be a depressed, middle-aged, closeted investment banker with a trophy wife he never touched and a couple kids who walked all over him because he was too apathetic to care what they did. He’d be living only for the moments when he could play sugar daddy to some hustler who secretly--and correctly--thought he was a loser.

Magnus whistled softly, which was Alec’s first clue that he’d actually spoken. “Whew. That’s some vision of the future there.”

Alec closed his eyes and groaned. “I didn’t mean to say all that. Please forget I said all that.”

“Oh, not a chance.” Magnus grinned and crossed to his bed, unzipped a pocket of his backpack and drew out a silver flask. He uncapped it and tipped it back, then held it out to Alec. “Drink?”

Alec meant to wave it away, but somehow ended up with it in his hand instead. “Thanks,” he murmured, taking a sip. He winced and shuddered, even though the whiskey was probably excellent. It hit his stomach like a small, warm explosion. “It’s, um, good.”

“Clearly,” Magnus deadpanned, taking it back. “Look, Alec, as a sage old sophomore here at stuffy Idris U, let me impart some wisdom. It’s your first year of college, and everything’s going to change. Your whole worldview. It’s a cliché, but it’s totally true. All this stuff you’ve got eating at you? All these things you’re scared of? In a year, you’re not going to remember why you ever thought ninety percent of them mattered.”

Alec sighed and flopped down on his bed, nearly toppling the box that still sat at the foot of it. “That sounds terrific. Get back to me in a year and I’ll let you know how it’s going. For now, I need to survive the next few weeks.”

“Ah, but that’s why you have me.” Magnus smirked and took another sip from his flask as he perched on the edge of his own bed. His rings clinked as he held the flask between his hands and drummed his fingers on it thoughtfully. “You seem to think you can just ease your way out from under your parents’ thumbs and they’ll let you go.” It shouldn’t have been a big deal that he drew out the _e_ in _ease_ , but for some reason it was suddenly the most appealing word Alec had ever heard. This was getting truly ridiculous. “Nuh-uh. Maybe you could pull it off with less overbearing parents, but not yours. I’ve seen their type before. They’ll only tighten their grip.”

“Great.” Alec groaned, tempted to press a pillow over his own face. “So...what? You have a solution?”

“Just let me be your guide this term. Except to go to class, Jace and Clary aren’t going to come up for air until nearly finals week, so you’ll be on your own anyway. Until then, I’ll be your...surrogate troublemaking sidekick. At least to begin with. I’ve been here for a year already, so I know which frats throw the wildest parties, who sells the best weed, and who can hook you up with the most convincing fake ID.”

“I’m not interested in any of that stuff,” Alec protested.

“Yes, but your parents don’t need to know that.” Magnus grinned wickedly. “You don’t have to rebel... _much_. You just need to make them _afraid_ that you’ll rebel. By this time next term, they’ll be thanking their lucky stars if the decisions you want to make for yourself involve nothing more self-destructive than choosing your own major or dating a male coding prodigy with a less-than-impeccable pedigree but a devastating sense of style.”

Alec laughed despite himself. “You’re that confident I’ll end up dating you?”

“Guess we’ll see. Check back with me next term.” Magnus’s eyes twinkled as he gave Alec a rakish leer. “What do you say? Want to get into just the right amount of trouble with me?”

Alec should have refused. He should have told Magnus he’d just stick with his studies and find another way out from under the crushing weight of his parents’ expectations. Certainly it would be safer, because that look Magnus was giving him made his heart race a little too fast and his palms sweat a little too much.

He should have refused.

Instead, he held out his hand. “Gimme that flask.”

Magnus passed it over willingly. “Limit yourself to small sips. We want you a little bright-eyed and smelling faintly of booze when your mom gets back from the alumni luncheon, not completely blotto or reeking like a distillery. You sure you’re up for this?”

Alec’s eyes caught on the peek of skin exposed by the open buttons of Magnus’s collar then dropped to the way his jeans clung his thighs like they were in love with his legs.

“Yeah,” he breathed, and took another drink. “I’m ready.”


End file.
